A LAMENTATION FOR THE Deceived People of the WORLD.  
But in particular To them of Alesbury, and those small Villages round about her; who are carried away captive by her Priests and Teachers, laden with sins, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth, nor never will, but by owning the Light which comes from the Son of God, the Saviour of all them that believe in the Light, and the Condemnation of all that hate it.  The Leaders of my People causeth them to err, and my People perish for lack of knowledge, saith the Lord. 
HARKEN and Hear, O Inhabitants of Alesbury; And to the small Villages round about thee: for thus saith the Lord, Take up a Lamentation for her, and lament her, in this the day of my power, saith the Lord; For I have measured thee, as I measured Sodom in the day of her highness, and the same sin that I found in her, is found in thee, saith the Lord, pride, haughtiness, and fullness of bread, so that thou loathest the honey and the honey comb; so that the voice of the Lord is not heard in thee, through the greatness of thy pride and thy Idolatry: Oh how the Just is oppressed as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves, through the abominations and the witch craft which is committed in thee; therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself, neither shall he stand which handleth the Bow, and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself, neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself, and he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord; They that have an ear to hear, let them hear.  
Therefore Repent, Repent, oh Inhabitants, for the Vials of the fierce wrath of the Lord God, is to be poured out upon you, except you speedily Repent. The days of Visitation are come, the days of recompense are come, Israel shall know it; the Prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and thy great hatred. Therefore I warn you all in the presence of the dreadful God of heaven and earth, that ye repent and return unto the Lord, in this the day of his power, for dreadful and terrible will he be to all the workers of iniquity.  
And now consider, and be thou warned, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, it is nigh you, it's even at the door. Therefore repent, repent, for the crooked way shall be made straight, and the rough way shall be made smooth, and every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, that all flesh may see the salvation of God. But this salvation, and this cry, hath not entered into your ears, who have refused the servants of the mosthigh God, which hath been sent often times unto you, with this cry in their mouths, but you have not regarded, nor harkened to the voice of the Lord, which hath often times been declared amongst you; and you have despised them that have been sent unto you, some of them have been kept in your prison, and some have you smitten in your Market, and others have been stoned for reproving sin in your streets, and some you have said had a Devil, when they have reproved you of sin: and now is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears this day, where Christ said, They shall persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil falsely against you, for my name's sake.  
And here thou art found guilty in this the day of the Lord, and of his power, which day makes thee manifest, and naked, and bare, before the Lord, who searcheth the heart and tries the reins. And none of thy cover will now cover thee, in this the day of the Lord; if a profession would have served, there is no lack of that in thee, but that will not stand in the dreadful day of God, when thou must give an account for every idle word, and for every vain thought, Then what will become of thy Profession? That is not (that) which will stand when the Lord shall appear, they are all too narrow they will not cover thee, but ye are all seen and comprehended by the children of light, in this the day of his everlasting power: for you deny the light Christ Jesus, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world; and he that denies the light, wherewith he is lighted, which shines in darkness, though the darkness comprehends it not, which light checks and condemns all the deeds of darkness, and all they which denies this, denies the way which leads unto life; This is the straight and narrow way, and few there be that finds it.  
And herein is the Scripture fulfilled, as it is written, There is none righteous, no not one, there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God, they are all gone out of the way, they are altogether become unprofitable, there is none that doth good no not one, their throat is an open Sepulchre, with their Tongues they have used deceit, the poison of Asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, they are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery is in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known, there is no fear of God before their eyes.  
Hear ye sinners, and ye that live in pride and covetousness, in the fashions and customs of the world, in the Traditions of men, having men's persons in admiration for advantage. And here you are all seen to be gone out of the way, Priest and People, for the way of peace you cannot witness; but some of you declared you have not peace, and others of you complain of a body of sin, and you have no refuge to fly to, and so you are found naked, and your sin is not covered, Who is wise and he shall understand these things, (prudent) and he shall know them, for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them, but the transgressors shall fall therein.  
And the Prophet describeth, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; but your sins are not covered, therefore you appear naked, and this blessedness is not known unto you: Therefore consider, are you not out of the way which is pure, and undefiled, which no vulturous eye hath ever seen, nor no venomous beast hath ever trodden in this path, but it is for the ransomed and the redeemed of the Lord to walk therein, but redemption you will not own, nor the path which is pure you know not; therefore you are found in the way of Balacke, who offered sacrafices and  offerings to curse Israel, whom God had blessed; and Jesabell when she had a purpose to destroy Naboth, she caused a Fast, that her intention might be brought to pass, nevertheless she had a day, and did not repent, He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear.  
Thereefore I warn you all in the fear and dread of the Lord God to Repent of these crimes which is found among you, for none of your cover will cover you in this the day of the Lord which is coming upon you, and upon all flesh, for the glory of all flesh must be stained in the day of his power, your Steeplehouse worship will not hid you, nor your Baptist worship will not hid you, your Independing will not cover you from the fierce wrath of the Lamb.  
Therefore woe, woe, is me, how great is my Lamentation for you O Inhabitants, where will you be, or with what will you be covered in this terrible day of the Lord, which is coming upon you? For that day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of Trumpet and Alarm against the fenced Cities, and against the high Towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord, and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung, neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them, in the day of the Lords wrath, but the whole Land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the Land, and a through search will the Lord God make in the earth, and Jerusalem must be searched with candles, for the Lord God will cleanse the Land of evil doers, and the Lord knows your manifold Transgressions, and your mighty Sins, you afflict the Just, and ye take a bribe, and ye turn aside the poor in the gate; therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time, for it is an evil time: Therefore whilst you have time Repent, and seek good and not evil, that ye may live; and so the Lord, the God of Hosts, shall be with you (as ye have spoken) and the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his holy one for a flame, and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briars in one day.  
Therefore come down to the light of Christ Jesus, the light of Israel, which shines in your consciences, which checks and condemns you, for all your deeds of darkness, and brings to your remembrance all things that ever you have done; is not this the Christ which was to come, and why do you look for another? and there is no other, nor no other Name under heaven, whereby you may be saved, but by this name Christ Jesus, the light of the world, and lighteth every man which cometh into the world, which suffered at Jerusalem without the gate; this same Christ do we own, and witness him to be made manifest in us, and to be made salvation to us, through the operation of his power and his mighty work in us, which works in us both to will and to do, according to his good pleasure.  
And now consider in the coolness of your spirits, and come down to that of God in you, which checks you when you do amiss, and shows you that you should not do so: This is that grace of God, which hath appeared to all men, which brings salvation, which was always the Saints teacher, and we are taught by it, as the Lord God hath promised, and we need no more say, know the Lord, for we all know him from the least to the greatest, and by his teaching we are taught to deny all ungodliness and worldly lust, and to live soberly and righteously in this present world. Therefore I exhort you all in the fear of the Lord, to come down to this grace of God, which hath appeared unto you, that you may witness your teaching of God, and that will stand you in stead, when the Lord God shall appear with ten thousand of his Saints, to execute Judgement upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed, and all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. And now while you have time prise it, and slight not the day of your Visitation, lest the day of the Lord come upon you as a Thief in the night, and there be none to deliver you.  

A Word to you who have set yourselves as Heads and Teachers of this People.  
YOu are all seen in this the day of the Lord, and are all comprehended by the children of light, who walk in the light, that you are out of the straight and narrow way, where there there is no variousness, nor shadow of turning, neither to the right hand nor to the left, where no error is, and where none can be deceived. For truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgement, and of might, to declare unto you your transgressions and your sins: The Heads thereof judge for reward, and the Priests thereof teach for hire, and the Prophets thereof divine for money, yet will they lean upon the Lord and say, is not the Lord amongst us? no evil can come upon us; But thus saith the Lord of hosts, Harken not unto the words of the Prophets, that Prophecy unto you, that make you vain, they speak a vision of their own hearts, and not out of the mouth of the Lord, they say still unto them that despise me, the Lord hath said ye shall have peace, and they say unto every one that walketh after the imaginations of his own heart, no evil shall fall upon you: and ye are such Teachers that say you have a body of sin, and tell the people that they must have sin, while they live in the world; and here you are made manifest, that you have not received the Ministry of reconciliation, nor you know not that which reconciles betwixt God and man, that which breaks down the partition wall, and makes of twain one new man.  
Therefore cease you Deceivers from deceiving the People, and stop your mouths from blaspheming the name of the righteous God, till you have departed from iniquity, for our God is a consuming fire, and he answereth by fire. Therefore you are of Babel, for you have been crying and professing these many years, and your sins are standing, and your iniquity is not covered; Hear ye perverters of Scripture, and teach men so to do, and where will you be cleansed? will you have a Purgatory after death, as the Papist Priests and Jesuits will have, if so we deny you, and all your Jesuitical damnable doctrine.  
Woe unto you Deceivers, woe unto you Merchants of Babylon, that buy and sell the Letter for money, woe and misery is your portion, except ye Repent, ye devourers of God's Inheritance▪ God will rule you with his rod of iron, & dash you in pieces like a potter's vessel, and there shall be none to deliver you, for the day is come and coming, that they shall not buy your Merchandise any more.  
And so be you all warned Priests and People, and Repent, for I am clear of your blood at this time in the presence of the dreadful God of heaven and earth, who draws near unto Judgement.   
From me who am a lover of souls, and the truth, as it is in Jesus: who am in scorn called a Quaker, but am known to many by the name of Jeane Bettris.   

London, Printed for Thomas Simmons, at the Bull and Mouth near Aldersgate, 1657.